Taxable scholarships, Form 1098-T, and educational credits

Forum|Forum|2 years ago
March 27, 2024
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My daughter started college in the Fall 2023 with several scholarships that covered tuition, fees, room, and board. She received 1098-T form from her school with Box 1 - $11250 and box 5 with $20629. She is qualified to be our dependent under IRS guidelines, so we claim her as our dependent on 2023 taxes. We also had some qualified education expenses (computer, books) that we (parents) paid out of our income. Following TurboTax questions, we reported her 1098-T on our taxes as well as these additional qualified education expenses (2000). So it qualified us for American Opportunity Credit. it did tell us though to have our student file her own income tax. So that's what we are working on now. Questions:

1. Does she need to report the difference of the box 5 and 1 as unqualified education expenses as her income?

2. Does she also report 1098-T on her taxes? As I mentioned above, we were prompt by TurboTax to report it on our taxes. Do we also report it on hers?

3. Is that true that books and computer that we as parents purchased and reported as qualified educational expenses should not be included in her filing?

4. If the scholarship was received in January 2024 for Spring 2024 semester expense, does that mean that we'll need to report it on the next year's taxes?

Thank you very much!

AmyC

Employee

1. No. Box 5 minus box 1 is only true if all of the scholarship went to tuition when it did not in your case. You were able to take the education credit so more of this was living expenses for your daughter. You need to look at your tax return and figure out how much of the tuition you claimed, probably $4,000 and add that amount to her unqualified expenses.

2. Yes to get the taxable income correct on hers.

3. There is no need for your expenses to go on her return. Simply indicate the portion that is taxable on hers.

4. Scholarships are reported by the school and entered when you receive the form 1098-T.

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catkikAuthor

Thank you both so very much! This turned out to be a lot more complicated than I anticipated - since that's the first time we are dealing with scholarships and AOTC.

If I may ask you to clarify it one more time about AOTC - Even though, we only had $2000 of qualified educational expenses (computer, books) that we (parents) paid out of pocket, TT still takes additional $2000 from the tuition paid (to bring the total of qualified expenses to $4000) in order to calculate maximum credit of $2500. Do i understand it right?

Also, Q.4 - One of the scholarships she received for academic year 2023-2024 is not reported on 1098-T form - I am assuming because it technically has not been received in 2023, but in early January 2024. So it will eventually be reported by the school on the 2024 1098-T form, is that right?

I am asking this, because my total of all the scholarships she received for the academic year 2023-2024 is higher (by the amount of that one scholarship) than the reported by the school. By the way, I don't have a record of when it was sent to the school since it is sent directly by the state (Hope scholarship).

I guess I am also trying to understand, if she is allowed to report this scholarship on 2023 tax year, even if it's not added on 1098-T?

Thank you so much for your help!

Hal_Al

Employee

Q. If I may ask you to clarify it one more time about AOTC - Even though, we only had $2000 of qualified educational expenses (computer, books) that we (parents) paid out of pocket, TT still takes additional $2000 from the tuition paid (to bring the total of qualified expenses to $4000) in order to calculate maximum credit of $2500. Do i understand it right?

A. Yes.

Q. One of the scholarships she received for academic year 2023-2024 is not reported on 1098-T form - I am assuming because it technically has not been received in 2023, but in early January 2024. So it will eventually be reported by the school on the 2024 1098-T form, is that right?

A. Yes, most likely.

Mismatched years on scholarships is a common problems with school 1098-Ts, Basically, you need to know what's going on and adjust the 1098-T, as/if needed, either this year or next year, or both. If you're saying that some of the tuition in the 2023 box 1 was actually paid by scholarship the school posted in 2024 (and is not shown in the 2023 box 5), then you may need to reduce the amount in box 1 that you enter, in TT*. But, that doesn't sound right with Box 1 already $11,250 and box 5 with $20,629.

*The 1098-T is only an informational document. The numbers on it are not required to be entered onto your tax return. However receipt of a 1098-T frequently means you are either eligible for a tuition credit or possibly your student has taxable scholarship income (or both in your case).

If you claim the tuition credit, you do need to report that you got one or that you qualify for an exception (the TurboTax interview will handle this)

You claim the tuition credit, or report scholarship income, based on your own financial records, not the 1098-T. In the 1098-T screen, click on the link "What if this is not what I paid the school" underneath box 1. You will then be able to enter the actual amounts paid. You will also reach a screen that allows you to adjust the scholarship amount for "amounts not awarded for 2023 expenses".

Or if you find it easier, just change the numbers in boxes 1& 5 to what your records show. The 1098-T that you enter in TT is not sent to the IRS.

Hal_Al

Employee

Before answering the questions about the student's tax return, let's talk about your return.

It only takes $4000 of qualified expenses to get the maximum $2500* American Opportunity Credit (AOTC). What TurboTax (TT) should have done was use $2000 of the tuition, in addition to the +/-$2000 of qualified education expenses (computer, books) that you paid to get the maximum credit.

This means that $2000 of tuition will not be applied to the scholarships on her return. That is, $2000 more of her scholarship will be taxable on her return. This gets you $500* more credit and should cost her $0 to $200 depending on what other (than the scholarship) taxable income she has. Her taxable scholarship is $20629 - 11250 + 2000 = $11,379. If that is her only income, none of it will be taxed (it's less than $13,850).

Yes, she enters the 1098-T on her return, even though you entered it.

Q. Is that true that books and computer that we as parents purchased and reported as qualified educational expenses should not be included in her filing?

A. No. Even though you've already claimed those expenses, they need to be entered in TT, on her return, so that TT can do the math. In her interview, you will eventually reach a screen "amount used to claim the education credit". If TT has not prepopulated that with $4000, you should enter (or change to) $4000.

*The AOTC is 100% of the first $2000 and 25% of the next $2000 of qualified expenses.